The Rival Queen

Chapter 30| Simon's Arrival

I ran back to the crowd, who were all still mesmerizied by Lucas. Boy does he talk. Even for the twenty minutes that I left the crowd, he was still talking. And by the speed his speech is taking this moment, I was shocked that it could still be understood. I watched the young boy use levitation magic as he floated around the crowd, possibly try to memorise everyone's faces. He then grinned, satisfied before finally announcing the competitors of the first round.

"First Round; Eliza of the Marquis Household of Caviar against Viscount Zion of Hungary"

The rest of competitors and I sat on the sidelines as we watched the first pair begin to battle. Of course, by status alone, future Marchioness Elizabeth Caviar would have won but what intrigued me was that Viscount Zion. I've heard inside the rumor mill that Sir Zion lost his parents when he was only eight, forcing him to be coronated in the mere age of nine.

Though most of the time, the oldest living member who isn't retired would have resumed the role as acting Viscount until Zion is of rightful age, he was adamant on taking the responsibilities of his late father. That is why I was unsure of who would win and who would lose.

I should also inform to no one in particular that this Second Round battles has only three rules;

You shall not inflict harm other than scratches and cuts, you shall not mock and the most important of all, you shall not inflict death on your opponent.

In my opinion, number three is most definitely right. Any violation of this three rules and you would immediately be eliminated and your opponent will win by default. Also, no one can inflict harm to one's self in order to frame their opponents. Other than that, you are able to use your weapons, magic and wits to win.

Surprisingly (or unsurprisingly) Zion had win the match. He stood there with his sword just centimeters away from Eliza's neck and the referee announced his win. I clapped, proud of myself for staying neutral in choosing who would win. It was then the referee stated the next competitors.

"Sir Harry of Anemer against Your Grace, Rein Aurelia of the Aurelian Household and Student of the Queen Dowager" I rose my eyebrow at the referee for the longer than intended introduction before going down the stairs with as much grace as I can create. Soon, I was at the battle grounds with Sir Harry, who had that taunting going on his eyes.

"A girl ?" He said mockingly, "is this a joke ?" He asked the male referee, who shook his head. I squinted my eyes at the arrogant boy before curtsying.

"But I'm afraid that I might force the weak girl, like all girls are, into crying if I tried to touch a hair on her head" he made hand gestures that were supposed to be offending in this world. I bit my tongue. How dare he belittle females ! I clenched my fists before standing from my curtsy position.

"A pleasure to meet you, Sir Harry of Anemer Earldom" I said sarcastically to Harry, who sadly didn't notice my edgy tone. He snorted in front of me before purposely bowing clumsily. We begun and he was the first to take offense.

The first thing that I thought about his fighting style was that he was all brawn and no brains. He kept trying to hit me with his sad excuse of a katana, which looked so dull, I wonder how anything can be cut through with it. It may be my annoyance talking or simply the way I normally think but he was lousy. My best guess was that he probably didn't practice.

I kept dodging in the form of hopping as he kept trying to hit me. After a couple of minutes, I got a bit bored at how he still thought hat he could hit me with that dull sword. With two swift fingers, I disarmed him, throwing the sword outside the stadium. He gaped at me for a moment before watching his sword landing outside the open fields.

"A girl, you say ?" I said monotonously, "I don't like the way you spoke about me, boy" I whispered on his ear before summoning one of my least favorite weapons I learned to form while on my travels.

"Let me show you how a girl fights" I said to him with a fake sugarcoated voice before instantly forcing him to fall on the ground by the pressure my dagger made. He widen his eyes as he watched the blade of my dagger swinging aimlessly over his neck. He quickly stuttered his defeat before running off.

Hmph ! That's what he get for saying such things about girls being weak. He didn't even see me on offense and he was already running. I could already hear him crying to his father. I stared at the referee, who had both eyes looking at my still swinging dagger before announcing my victory.

I walked back to my seat, still annoyed of how that boy acted towards females. Don't tell me boys like that exist in this world too ?! I sighed, slightly disappointed of this world. Even in my travels, no one dared to speak like that to women. In fact, almost all tribes I meet respect their women as the women respect the men.

Slowly, the forty competitors decreased into the mere number of ten. Consisting three of the spots on the top ten is a my mother's godchild, Margaret Alerton, Adam Sutcliffe, another heir to a dukedom and thankfully, I.

Lucas smiled at me encouragingly and I, feeling a bit happy, smiled back. His eyes widen before covering himself with the papers on his hands. I stared at him, confused. Why did he suddenly do that ? I wondered as I look for my sister Catherine within the crowds.

Instead of finding my sister however, I caught four faces that made me grin widely. On one of the seats sat my my mother, North and my old nursemaid, Luisa. I waved at Luisa, who waved back enthusiastically. On another seat sat the surprisingly smiling Godric, who was staring at me with an expression I didn't really understood.

I shrugged before looking back towards Lucas, who was still smiling. With that welcoming grin, he began announcing the names.

"Please stand up if your name is called" he instructed.

"Lady Amelia of the Devon Household"

"Viscount Zion of the Hungary"

"Xavier of the Vernon Knighthood"

"Alexander of the Midfields in the Sutcliffe Dukedom"

"Arnold of the Midfields in the Sutcliffe Dukedom"

"Sir Titus II of the Aegis Family"

"Lady Harriet of the Quiran Household"

"Richard of the Barrington House"

Lucas suddenly stopped, his smile faltered. He muttered something incoherent before speaking.

"Simon of the Aeneas House"

Wait, Simon ?! But wasn't he supposed to be in Catherine's year ? I furrowed my eyebrows, not understanding this new development when Lucas announced my name with a melancholy smile. It was then Simon appeared in front of me with a smile on his face.

"My dear Rein, we've finally meet again !" He said happily before pulling one of my wrists towards him and stealing something I was preserving for years.

My first kiss.